What is Transformation? By Martha Lasley

You
can think of the kind of transformation described here as drawing new
water out of your old well

Thanks

You
can think of the kind of transformation described here as drawing new
water out of your old well – by going deeper than you ever dipped
before. The way to get your bucket deeper into your well is by taking
on powerful questions, instead of jumping at attractive-looking
answers. – John Scherer

Transformation
is a process of profound and radical change that arises from deep
awareness and leads to fresh orientation and new direction.
Transformation honors what is, while reaching deep within to find
what is emerging – the birthing of something brand new. Instead of
denying the past or the present, the transformational process cradles
or embraces the life force. Coaches act as midwives to the birthing
process – the creation of something new and exciting.

People
transform to the degree that they are seen, heard, understood and
recognized for the gifts they have to offer. Simply witnessing the
process and being fully present can have a deep transformational
impact.

In
holistic
coaching
you create an essence-to-essence relationship. You look for and bring
out the client’s essence and, at the same time, bring your own
essence to the relationship. In this essence-to-essence relationship,
both Coach
training
and client experience transformation. The coach is transformed just
by witnessing the powerful shifts in their client. Naming the impact
the client has on the coach can serve as a source of inspiration.

Coaching
for Transformation is a pioneering model of coaching that holds the
polarity between pure client focus and commitment to the possibility
of a transformational relationship between coach and client. The
primary purpose of coaching is to foster transformation in the
client. The coach simultaneously steps wholeheartedly into both sides
of the coaching equation by sharing their own transformation if
it has the potential to serve the client.

Transformation
isn’t merely the end product of a change in alignment. It is also
the change that happens within to bring the people
you coach into greater
alignment. For example, a young father wants to honor his values of
family and responsibility, which leads to transformation and a new
way of being in the world. Transformation nearly always involves a
change in pattern; be it a pattern of thinking or a pattern of
behavior. Instead of looking for the big “aha” moment, notice
that transformation can happen in any moment. The beauty of the
process is that we reach deep within, building on what’s available
right now without negating the past.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Martha
Lasley is a founder of Leadership that Works, home of the Coaching
for Transformation program
that offers an ICF accredited coach
training
certification geared toward supporting nonprofit leaders and social
change activists.